Since 2019, the Least Developed Countries Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR) has been challenging how climate finance works. LIFE-AR was created as an LDC-led initiative working to get climate finance to the communities who need it most. .
In 2019 though, the initiative lacked the capacity to be fully independent, and the International Institute for Environment and Development was chosen by the LDC Group to host the Secretariat in the interim.
For the past six years, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has operated as an incubator to allow LIFE-AR to grow, and for countries to develop and test systems via an establishment phase. With countries moving to the investment phase and developing a proof of concept, the initiative has matured. The time is now right for LIFE-AR to become independent.
In March 2024, the LIFE-AR Board agreed to launch the next phase for LIFE-AR, and to fast track the process of establishing an independent organisation: the LIFE-AR Facility.
The transition
Since the LIFE-AR Board's decision to transition the initiative to its own independent organisation, the Interim Secretariat, guided by the LIFE-AR Board, is putting in place all the governance structures, operational systems, and funding partnerships the Facility needs to work as an independent entity. Care is being taken to build a financially sustainable, operationally sound organisation, genuinely led by LDC priorities.
The transition is moving forward through a phased approach: first, establishing the legal entity with its procedures and governance, then testing and refining how it all works in practice. The transition is monitored by the LIFE-AR Board, supported by an interim LIFE-AR Facility board. The completion of the process is tied to a strict set of success criteria, to ensure continuity of operation and the same standard of service to the current LIFE-AR countries. The timeline is adaptive, with key milestones in March and October 2026. In the meantime, IIED will continue to support LIFE-AR until the transition is complete. We're aiming to complete the transition by October 2026.
A New Model for Climate Finance
The LIFE-AR Facility will be the first of its kind, a climate finance mechanism designed, led, and governed by the Least Developed Countries Group.
The LIFE-AR Facility will continue to deliver on the Asks, Offers and Principles of the LDC 2050 Vision, pushing both LDCs and financial partners to shift power dynamics and adopt a business unusual model to deliver climate finance. The LIFE-AR Facility will support the channel of resources directly to governments to fund community-driven investment priorities using the LIFE-AR principles of locally-led adaptation, in accordance with the commitments in the LIFE-AR Compact and the goals of the revised LIFE-AR strategy.
The Facility is designed to be temporary. Once LIFE-AR principles are fully embedded across all participating LDCs, and national systems are strong enough to access and manage climate finance on their own, the Facility will cease its activities.
The LIFE-AR Facility will be the primary vehicle for delivering the LDC 2050 Vision